Eva Blanche

After completing our goal for 2013 of taking a picture every day of the year, I was looking forward to not having the “burden” any more. Then we started taking pictures just out of habit and I figured it was worth it to continue on for another year or until I get sick of it. It’s been a good way to basically force me to keep a journal and what’s better than a picture journal?

This year started off to an unexpectedly with the news of my grandma passing away. She went peacefully in her sleep after a wonderful day of being with grandchildren at a birthday party and ending the day talking on the phone to a good friend. It came as a shock to everyone but I had a general feeling of peace at the news. The next few days went by in a whirlwind making plans to get to Kansas for the funeral.

January 1st I was lucky enough to get together with friends that I don’t get to see very often as they’ve been scattered around the country. We met up at Millhollow for our reunion.

Nap time at lunch. Doug is wearing a stocking of sorts on his head that used to house some fuzzy slippers I got for Christmas. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Friday was the day we flew out to the funeral in Kansas. We were able to hitch a ride with my boss to Oklahoma which was fun because that caused me to find some Oklahoma songs from the musical to blast in the car as we drove the two hours to Wichita. Doug loved my singing and dancing in the passenger seat. My fellow Musettes friends will have fond memories of- “Ohhhhhhhhh-KK…la-homa where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain!” It felt  proper to be listening to that as we drove through the plains. I’ve actually never seen the musical and I’m okay with that.  I saw a billboard for Braums restaurant and told Doug that we needed to stop. My grandma always took the grandkids to Braums for ice cream. Doug had never been to one and as soon as we walked it I thought of my grandma. Doug loved his burger and wouldn’t stop talking about it. Grandma would be proud.

We had a little pit stop in Utah before our flight to Oklahoma and went to the Midway Ice Castle.

Saturday was the funeral. There was a beautiful service to honor my wonderful Grandma Belnap. She was so kind and giving and lead a faithful life worth reflecting on. I didn’t get to see my grandparents too often growing up where I lived in Idaho and they lived in Kansas. We would usually make a trip out every summer and I have such fond memories of spending time at their home. It made any time with them seem so valuable and was never taken for granted. I never had the opportunity to meet my mother’s parents so it made time with Grandma and Grandpa Belnap precious. Grandma took care of Grandpa through 14 years of Alzheimer’s, 9 of which he was bed-ridden. She never once complained and kept a genuinely positive attitude through the entire time. She was overall a very positive person and I hope I can learn from her example.

My extended family is spread pretty much across the whole country. I rarely get to see any of them and Doug has only met a small handful. It was so lovely to see everyone all together and catch up on years gone by. Always the silver lining of a funeral.

Getting to Kansas was smooth and enjoyable. Getting home however was another story. Our flights were canceled due to winter storms. Then the flights they rescheduled us to were delayed three hours. There was a lot of time spent waiting. And waiting. I shouldn’t complain, as it could have been much worse. But having your flight canceled when you are ready to be home isn’t so fun. JT and Kacie had to leave their two girls home but were able to bring Jonathan, 14 months, with them. He was such a trooper and mom had fun giving him rides in the airport wheelchair when we were waiting for our flights for hours on end.

Oh and then there’s this gem of Cousin Ben saying goodbye to Jonathan before we left.

We eventually made it home safe and sound, just a day later than anticipated. We are both so happy we could make it out to pay our respects to such a wonderful person.